Hi folks..

 

New to the Skoda world, even though I've had my thoughts on one for about six months.

 

Picked up my new car on Thursday and I'm well surprised!!

 

Its a 2001, Octavia 4x4 1.8T Estate Elegance. Silver, 104k miles.

 

Looks like it has been owned by 'well to do' owners and its totally solid!

 

So, after a day of washing, alloy wheel cleaning, upholstery and carpet cleaning, back to black etc? 

 

It looks brilliant! So I took it for a shake down run?  

 

It will do 130, nearly everything works and I still can't believe this car cost me £725!

 

I'm aware of the usual wish list for the 4x4, but my needs may be a little less than the usual?

 

This will be a daily driver, used to help finish my home building work, but it could also be a fun car?

 

So, what help am I asking you guys for?  

 

The car goes fast enough, but I'd like it to go quicker.

 

I like the comfort of the suspension.

But my guess is the shocks ain't damping enough, or the springs are worn?

As she does bounce along at the high speeds.

 

Totally safe, even at speed, but its looking like I need new springs and shocks.

I want the comfort and hope an uprated anti roll bar will sort the lean.  

 

I will shortly be getting a new cam belt and water pump change, before a remap.

 

I like the sleeper look and want to keep the original 16" wheels, plus for the comfort.  

 

FAULT 1.

 

Engine management light is on. Honest owner said it was it was code17544.

 

He has had it checked twice and the system re-set twice and the garage cant find the leak?

 

She runs great, no hesitation etc?

 

Reading on this forum, looks like the likely culprit will be the front inverted Y shaped breather pipe?  

 

Looks like the best thing is to get the uprated one from GTI Awesome? 

 

Any other suggestions?

 

FAULT 2.

 

The CD changer hidden in the nearside rear compartment of the estate, isn't working.

 

The rest of the audio is fine.

Guess I aint gonna be lucky with the lack of power to the unit being just a fuse.

 

Is this a common problem, or any suggetsions before i head to an audio repairer?    

 

 

CAMBELT.

 

The cambelt hasn't been changed for 50k miles!

 

Get a standard Skoda one, or is there a better one or kit I could get? (belt and water pump)   

 

REMAP.

 

Looks like a will get a remap from AmD Tuning in Essex. I live in Hertfordshire.

 

Any other suggestions, or positive comments on AmD?

 

BRAKES.

 

The car has had new Disc's and pads all round in recent time.  

 

Reading this forum, looks like the rear discs and are more than good enough, post remap.

 

But I like the sleeper look and want to keep the original wheels.

 

So, is there an option to uprate the front discs and pads all round without changing the wheels?

 

The discs at present are nearly new, could i just change the pads?  

 

If so, what pad spec is best for a daily driver.

 

SPRINGS and SHOCKS

 

Springs. I'm not gonna go to the expense of coilover packs.

 

What are the best springs and dampers for the 4x4 daily driver?

 

ANTI ROLL BARS.

 

Do I need to change both front and rear?

 

I don't want to go about cutting the spare wheel well, to accommodate the R32 RARB.

 

Will just changing the front to an R32 or other suggested after market item do?

 

Is there a rear bar that will upgrade the rear without cutting the spare wheel well?     

 

HALDEX CONTROLLER.

 

I know the blue controller is the holy grail and no longer available..

 

Other than waiting for one of these hens teeth to appear,,,

 

Is there another performance alternative between the original one on the car and a blue controller?

 

All advice, suggestions and other things I ain't thought of,,,, will be gladly received.

 

Regards, Vince.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi welcome, I have a 4x4, I think the best mods to get are a remap and air filter to suit and get some good brakes on them I have the tt quattro brakes

312mm front and 256 vented rear, I also have lowered springs which does help on the handling side, just be careful on launching as I have gone through 2 transfer box now both self destructed! I would advise if you remap get the dog mount bushes uprated as I think this mount has caused my problems

Also depends on how much money you have got, custom made exhaust would open her up uprated, hybrid turbo route, got the money you can have a beast of a car really

150bhp standard remap 210bhp+

When upgrading to tt brakes where did you get a set of calipers and carriers from and how much were they?

To upgrade you need 312mm carriers for the front e.g vrs ones around £50-£70 and for the back you need the whole caliper and carrier from a s3/tt 225 version around £100 And of course needs discs and pads which are from £100+

Welcome to Briskoda. I owned a 2002 version for 9 years and it was a very reliable car. Mine was standard apart from a Jabbasport custom remap along with their variable boost controller, complemented by a 1.4MPI badge on the back in place of the 4X4 one.

I would do the following and no more.

1. Replace the cambelt, tensioner and water pump with OEM parts.

2. Have the Haldex oil and filter changed unless this has been in the last 20k/40k respectively.

3. Replace the springs and dampers with OEM parts.

4. Have the 17544 fault code investigated further and sorted. Ross-Tech's Wiki has the following info on that:

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/17544/P1136/004406

5. Once that is done, get the remap done.

Unit 18 - one of our Sponsors - at Milton Keynes can do all of that at a very competitive price and have an excellent reputation with members.

That lot will add up to more than you paid for the car wherever you get it done but will add little to the value. I wouldn't waste any more money on mods as the car should be as fun enough when sorted. And the remap (plus a badge change) will turn it into a sleeper! Enjoy.

I would do the following and no more.

1. Replace the cambelt, tensioner and water pump with OEM parts.

2. Have the Haldex oil and filter changed unless this has been in the last 20k/40k respectively.

3. Replace the springs and dampers with OEM parts.

4. Have the 17544 fault code investigated further and sorted. 

5. Once that is done, get the remap done.

 

 

+1! I totally agree. I am the owner of a 4X4 for the last 8 years with 200k miles. I would just put a metal-blade after market pump. 

OEM springs are great, OEM dampers are pretty soft, great for ordinary use. They will last about 70k miles. I have installed Bilstein sport and they are pretty uncomfortable, comparing to the OEMs. 

I have the same car....you are welcome to my cd changer if you like, It is fully working, but I upgraded my HU, if you fancy a trip down to surrey...it's still on the car at the moment

Edited 19 April, 201412 yr by supergeeman

Thanks for the offer supergeeman. I'm gonna investigate the power source first and also check out the drain pipe to see if the contacts are corroded? Vince.

I would echo what DGW suggested. My 4x4 is 'on loan' to a car-less family member at the moment, but I'm looking forward to getting it back to have some OEM bits replaced (front suspension and brakes) and then off to Crowland later in the year to see Mr Jabba.  

 

After 10 years away from one, and having been lucky enough to run lots of cars, they're one of those cars that are basically 'right' . Unless you want to go play on track days they are great with a bit more power 'as they are'

Thanks for the offer supergeeman. I'm gonna investigate the power source first and also check out the drain pipe to see if the contacts are corroded? Vince.

iirc there's a black plastic feed pipe for the rear wash-wiper which has a join somewhere above the cd-changer

I like the comfort of the suspension.

But my guess is the shocks ain't damping enough, or the springs are worn?

As she does bounce along at the high speeds.

lol

thats how they ride on factory suspension

if keeping stock suspension probably a good idea to get a cg-lock, so you don't roll out the seat when pitching round corners

The 4x4 has huge tuning potential - but nothing afermarket is cheap

You can overwhelm the stock brakes with 150hp

OEM springs and shocks? 

 

Being as its a 51 plate, I was half hoping the s[rings were worn and shocks not as good as they could be?

 

I was thinking of after market items? But if new OEM ones would tighten things up,, that would be fine?

 

I can't imagine that Skoda sent them out so they bounce and float along at higher speeds?

 

I like the softness of comfort for my daily communting driver,, but not the floaty bounce?

 

I was hoping a bigger front anti roll bar would help in the corners, even though she sticks like glue at present!

 

So if i replaced the shocks, springs and replaced the various rubbers on the suspension links, with OEM parts.

 

Would this be enough? I'm in my 40's, so dont want any boy racer, bone jarring ride.

 

I'm after a one time fit. I wont be adjusting suspension or playing with track days etc.

 

Vince.

Brakes.

 

Going the uprated or OEM route?

 

I'm heavy on the brakes and like the confidence of a good system.    (used to BMW's)

 

As I said before, the discs were recently changed, but i can already feel i'm having to build in extra road length to compensate! 

 

Option 1. Replace the pads all round with a set of uprated road versions.

 

Option 2. Change the discs and pads for an uprated set.

 

Option 3. Larger discs? But I wont to keep the original 16" 4x4 wheels.

 

Any advice?  Vince    

They float and bounce because the setup on the 4x4s' is designed for slowly driving down unmetalled tracks

 

tbh all VAG mk4's have quite nasty float and bounce characteristics on their stock suspension

 

Replacing worn parts is fine, but you're not going to change the nature of the car

 

 

You can fit pads such as DS2500 which will make an impact, but fundamentally the 4x4 has inadequately small front and rear brakes for sustained spirited driving

 

There is some potential for tuning the car without making it too firm

 

Think the cheapest option is probably an R32 suspension setup, but its probably going to cost similar/more than the car.

 

Personally I'd be thinking R32 arbs + koni fsb + h&r springs + forge tie bars + 312/256mm brakes + stage 1

 

They are well worth upgrading though

 

I could only tolerate the stock handling for < 1 month

 

- have you thought about a budget - do you really want a tuning project at the same time as building a house too ?

I suppose this all depends on the size of your wallet, but 'slow in, fast out' works really well in 'Q-car / sleeper land'  

Sorry to drag up an old post but I wondered how you got on with this?  The reason I ask is I'm currently in Germany at the Nurburgring with my 4x4 and am already thinking what else I can do to it.  It's already mapped with a blue haldex controller, 312 fronts and 256 rears, R32 front ARB and springs/shocks.  

 

How have you got on with yours?

 

 

 

Couple of pics of yesterday :-)

 

Thanks

Tom